On 1 August 1999, a group from the Societe de Volcanologie Geneve ascended the ice- and rock-covered summit. On the way up the N flank they saw vertical coal deposits below 2,450 m elevation, reaching thicknesses of tens of meters. Above 4,000 m elevation huge blocks were seen that appeared to have traveled from ~1 km above. Just below the summit were large sulfur-bearing blocks that appear to be mixed with a clay- like material. Within 100 m of the N rim of the summit chunks of pure sulfur were observed. The circular summit crater was ~150 m in diameter. In the center of the crater lay a small frozen lake approximately 40 m across. From the N rim of the summit, an active fumarole could be seen to the south.

Information is preliminary and subject to change. All times are local (unless otherwise noted)

A visit to the summit area . . . on 12 July 1993 revealed a small, powerful fumarolic vent on the S rim of the crater that was emitting SO2-rich gases at a temperature of ~50°C. Sulfur deposits also covered the surrounding slopes. The summit crater was ~150 m wide and 20 m deep, with a 40-m-diameter frozen lake in the bottom, surrounded by patches of snow. . . . there is no permanent glacier because of the dry climate. However, the upper slopes do contain scattered areas of hardened perennial snow (névés).

On 1 August 1999, a group from the Societe de Volcanologie Geneve ascended the ice- and rock-covered summit. On the way up the N flank they saw vertical coal deposits below 2,450 m elevation, reaching thicknesses of tens of meters. Above 4,000 m elevation huge blocks were seen that appeared to have traveled from ~1 km above. Just below the summit were large sulfur-bearing blocks that appear to be mixed with a clay- like material. Within 100 m of the N rim of the summit chunks of pure sulfur were observed. The circular summit crater was ~150 m in diameter. In the center of the crater lay a small frozen lake approximately 40 m across. From the N rim of the summit, an active fumarole could be seen to the south.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Demavend | Demawend

Thermal

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Ab E Garm

Thermal

Ask

Thermal

Baidjan

Thermal

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

LatitudeLongitude

232010

5350 BCE

5670 m / 18598 ft

35.951°N
52.109°E

Volcano Types

Stratovolcano
Lava dome(s)
Pyroclastic cone(s)

Rock Types

MajorTrachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite

MinorBasalt / Picro-Basalt
Trachyte / Trachydacite

Tectonic Setting

IntraplateContinental crust (> 25 km)

Population

Within 5 kmWithin 10 kmWithin 30 kmWithin 100 km

27
2,295
59,171
11,945,981

Geological Summary

The Damavand stratovolcano towers dramatically 70 km to the NE above Iran's capital city of Tehran and 70 km S of the Caspian Sea. It is the highest volcano in the Middle East. A younger cone has been constructed during the past 600,000 years over an older edifice, remnants of which were previously interpreted as a caldera wall. Flank vents are rare, and activity at the dominantly trachyandesite volcano has been concentrated at the summit vent, which has produced a series of radial lava flows. Lava effusion has dominated, pyroclastic activity has been limited, and the only major explosive event produced a welded ignimbrite about 280,000 years ago. The youngest activity has consisted of the eruption of a series of lava flows from the summit vent that cover the W side of the volcano. The youngest dated lava flows were emplaced about 7000 years ago. No historical eruptions are known, but hot springs are located on the flanks, and fumaroles are found at the summit crater.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

A: Deformation field velocity in line-of-sight (LOS) direction of satellite, as obtained in descending geometry. B: LOS deformation as obtained in ascending viewing geometry. Area of Damavand volcano and approximate trace of active regional tectonic faults are marked by black and red dashed lines, respectively, and locations of global positioning system (GPS) stations at Polor city (PLOR) and Absard city (ABSD) are shown. Red star?the volcano summit. C, D: Comparison between InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) displacement time series and GPS time series at ABSD. E, F: InSAR time series in descending and ascending orbit at eastern and western flank, respectively. Note that because ascending and descending data are not simultaneously acquired, LOS displacement displayed on these graphs cannot be directly compared to vertical and horizontal velocities in Figure 3.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Damavand.

Photo Gallery

Damavand volcano in the Elbruz mountains, about 80 km NE of Iran's capital city Tehran, is seen here from the volcano's southern flank, at an altitude of 3500 m. The summit of the 5670-m-high stratovolcano contains a well-preserved, 150-m-wide crater with a small frozen lake. Despite its altitude, the region is too arid to support permanent glaciers on Damavand. Young lava flows from the summit and flank vents cover the west side of the volcano.

Photo by J. Sesiano, 1998 (University of Geneva).

Winter snows highlight morphological features of Damavand volcano in this NASA Space Shuttle image (with north to the upper left). Lava flows with prominent levees can be seen at the bottom of the image, and a small well-preserved crater can be seen at the summit. The volcano is located about 80 km NE of the capital city of Tehran and is a popular destination for outdoor recreation.

Conical snow-capped Damavand volcano is the highest volcano in the Middle East. It towers dramatically 70 km to the NE above Iran's capital city of Tehran. Activity at the 5670-m-high stratovolcano has been dominated by lava effusion. Young lava flows erupted from the summit vent blanket the western side of the volcano, and the youngest dated lava flows were erupted about 7000 years ago. No historical eruptions are known from Damavand, but hot springs are located on the volcano's flanks and fumaroles are found at the summit crater.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

Affiliated Sites

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the MAGA Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO2 to the atmosphere, but installing CO2 monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).